The "Roycroft Victory Campaign," a $300,000 fund-raising drive for exterior restoration of the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora, is under way with a $50,000 head start.

Officials of the Roycroft Revitalization Corp. have announced receipt of a $50,000 grant from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a New York City-based private foundation.

Funds from the campaign will be used to match a $300,000 state grant under the Environmental Quality Bond Act for exterior work on the national historic landmark closed for more than three years.

The Revitalization Corp. plans to solicit funds from area foundations and corporations as well as individuals, said Jerry C. Hiller, a member of the corporation and East Aurora village administrator.

It is hoped the work can get under way by fall, before the run-down structure is subjected to another winter, Hiller said.

The $600,0000, estimated to cover 80 percent of the exterior work, is part of a $4 million package aimed at getting the building renovated and reopened in 1991 as an inn and restaurant.

The Rochester development team that will operate the facility is putting up $1.4 million. Low-interest loans of $1.2 million from the state and county and $853,000 in conventional financing account for the rest.

The Rochester-based Landmark Society of Western New York rescued the inn and its contents from being sold at bankruptcy auction when it purchased the property in December 1987.

Eventually, the Landmark Society will transfer ownership to the Revitalization Corp. headed by Burt Flickinger.

The corporation, in turn, will lease it to the Rochester developers and restaurant operators. They are Joseph Bonvissuto, Peter Willard, Michael Farash and Thomas Hackett.